Frequently Asked Questions
All answers here should be considered general information which may be helpful in solving your issue. In every case this information is just a guideline, you should always check your owners manual's Troubleshooting section for the best way to solve your particular problem. We assume no liability for how you choose to use the information presented here. By continuing on to read this page you agree to these terms.
My gas fireplace or log set will not come on.
If the fireplace or log set has been off for the season make sure the gas shut-off is in the open position, the red knob located on the gas line is running parallel to the gas line not perpendicular to it. If there is a wall switch for the unit, make sure it is in the up or on position. In the case of a direct vent fireplace (identified by a one piece fixed position glass panel on the front), you will have to either fold down or remove the bottom set of louvers, and then the instructions will apply to that fireplace and most millivolt log sets. You will see a knob with three positions on it "On," "Off," and "Pilot." You will need to turn the knob so that the "Pilot" position is lined up with the indicator line, and push it in towards the fireplace and hold it in. If you do not feel it depress in towards the unit, it is not lined up properly. Once you feel it depress, you need to push either the red or black sparker button to ignite the pilot light--you should hear a clicking sound when you do it. If the pilot light does not ignite on the first click, continue holding the pilot knob in, and press the sparker every few seconds. When you see the pilot light ignite, you will probably want to keep the pilot knob depressed for at least another 30 seconds to allow the air to bleed from the line. After those thirty seconds, release the pilot knob. If the flame goes out, repeat the above steps and continue to hold the button in with the flame lit for about 60 seconds, and then let up again. If the flame stays burning, twist the knob over from "pilot" to the "on" position. If the light will not stay lit, try the above steps four or five times, and then if it still will not light, you need to call (317) 271-8400 and arrange for a service call.
If your log set is on a manual key valve, you will need a long handle lighter or long handle matches. Turn the key enough that you feel it open up, put your lighter up to the burner underneath the logs, wait until they ignite, and then turn them the rest of the way up.
Back To The TopHow do I clean my gas fireplace, there is a one piece fixed glass panel on the front of it and I don't know how to get it off.
You need to remove or fold down the bottom louvers, and remove the top louvers. You should put your hands on the louvers and push up a little bit. They will either fold down or come off at that point. Once you have both sets of louvers off, you will see two buckle clamps down on the bottom just under the glass. You will need to fold those clamps forward to it unclasps. Once both clasps on the bottom have been unbuckled, put your hands under the glass and push up, this should release the piece of glass. You can clean the cool glass (never do it when unit is hot) with a damp sponge and warm water. You can also use a silicone fireplace glass cleaner or White Off, a product similar to electric smooth top range cleaner, available at Godby, which will clean and coat the glass, which will prevent it from getting dirty quickly.
Why am I not getting heat from my fireplace?
Many fireplaces are designed purely for the aesthetic, with no thought to heat in mind. If, for instance, you are burning a direct vent fireplace (recognizeable by a one piece fixed glass panel going over the front of the fireplace), in most cases it will be relatively low heat output and be behind tempered glass--so a lot of the heat is actually reflected back into the box. The heat will then not move out too far from the face of the unit--just kind of linger around the wall. One solution is to add a blower. If you look behind the lower louvers on your fireplace you will see a junction box, most often with two outlets. Step one, plug a lamp ito it to make sure the outlet has power going to it--if not you may need to call an electrician first. If your unit has power you can buy a blower unit which installs behind the bottom louvers, draws air from the room, allows it to pass over the back of the heated firebox and sends the now heated air out through the top louvers. If you have a TV over your fireplace, I would recommend this every time. Keep in mind a blower makes about as much noise as your average bathroom fan.
If it is a wood burning fireplace, a blower is not always available, and in most cases, even if one is, if you are burning without doors, or with open doors, the draw from the heated flue system may be more powerful than the blower. If you have doors, try burning your wood with the doors closed. While this may not provide what feels like as much heat in the room you are in, it will drastically slow down the huge amounts of furnace heated air being sucked out of your house through the flue for combustion. The net result at that point should be break even or better on heat coming into the house.
If it as a B-vent, gas open front, vented fireplace, you are essentially out of luck. They provide heat in the room you are in, a nice flame, but the net result is a heat loss in the house. B-vent fireplaces, with only a couple exceptions, are purely decorative gas appliances, not heaters.
Back To The TopI've heard that vent free gas logs put off a lot of heat, can I put them in my fireplace, and are they safe?
Vent free gas logs allow you to close the damper in your fireplace and stop sending furnace heated air out of the house. They are 99.9% efficient, where vented gas logs and most woodburners are only 30% efficient. This means that when you use vent free logs virtually all the heat they produce is added to the home's heat, while vented logs do not produce enough heat to offset the heat loss from having the damper open. Vent free fireplace logs burn extremely clean. The way they are designed the flames do not impinge on the logs, and so they do not put off the same concentration of carbon, and carbon monoxide as the vented logs do. The best thing I can equate it to is a gas range top. The logs should burn as safely as having all 4 burners going on a gas range. Ventilation over a range is not required, in most cases it is used to displace heat or cooking odors. As far as installing them, if you have a masonry fireplace with a gas line to it, you can certainly do it. If you have a factory built fireplace, you should read the owners manual to see if they prohibit it, if not is a very viable option. There are a few things you may want to keep in mind in regards to vent free logs; they do have a bit of an odor to them, based on our customer base I would estimate about 5% of people will find the odor strong enough to not want the product, 15% cannot detect the odor, and the remaining 80% can detect the odor but find it mild enough to use it all the time without finding it troublesome. I would also say that the odor is stronger when using propane. As a final note, any time you are using gas heat, you are adding moisture into the house, if you use these in a basement where you already have moisture problems, you may need to add a dehumidifier in a basement setting.
How much does it cost to burn gas logs?
Rough estimates based on natural gas are about $1.25 to $1.50 per hour for vented logs, and about half that for vent free logs. Propane would routinely cost about 15% more.
If they cost less to operate, provide more heat in the home, and don't send your furnace heated air out the chimney, why doesn't everyone use vent free gas logs?
Many people are unaware of the advantages of vent free logs. There were several years early in the design of vent free logs where they didn't look great, and did not have an ember bed component to the log seet--now they look good and have ember beds. Some people do find the odor offensive. Also, when burning gas logs, if they are not vented the gas has to go somewhere, and the result is often a film or residue which coats the walls, ceilings or windows--again, much like in the kitchen. There is also one of the major manufacturers of fireplaces who decided not to get into the vent free business, and to try and avoid losing business to this highly efficient category, created all kinds of horror stories to discourage consumers from buying the competitive products.
I have a free or cheap supply of wood, but it sounds like I can't get efficiency out of a woodburning fireplace, is that true?
Not entirely, while most woodburning fireplaces are relatively innefficient (around 30%), there are high efficiency woodburning fireplaces which can either heat an entire house, or provide extremely efficient zone heating. We use Napoleon Fireplaces NZ6000, NZ3000, and NZ26 high efficiency wood burning fireplaces, and offer a full line of wood stoves and inserts from them as well. The thing is you need to expect to pay a steep entry price to get into these units, but if you have a good supply of wood, they will pay for themselves over time.
I've seen on TV or in magazines fire burning up through glass or crystals, can I do that in my fireplace?
We carry this product, it is called fireglass. If your fireplace is a masonry fireplace, or was originally a factory built woodburning fireplace, but has gas logs in it now, you can convert it to burning fireglass instead of logs. There are about 35 colors and we can get U-shaped burners, H shaped burners, circular burners and straightline burners. It is vented, and will put off as much heat as a vented gas log set.
I don't like how my fireplace looks, am I stuck with it until I buy my next house?
Not at all. There are all kinds of things that can be done. We can do things as minor as changing out doors, switching to gas logs or fireglass, replacing tile with marble, or marble with granite. We can also rip the brick facing off a wall, replace it with a slate tile wall, and a stainless steel surround and black granite hearth. We can replace an existing mantle with a much more beautiful one, be it wood, stone or metal. We show in our showroom things as diverse as a beautiful Biltmore reproduction mantle surrounded with marble and attractive copper and glass doors, and another display with a fire engine red wall with 3 split level black marble shelves, a quilted stainless steel surround, and doors with Chinese symbols for serenity and good fortune. Suffice it to say if you can dream it up we can more than likely find a way to give you the look you want. A little unsure of what you want? Let our Showroom Designer work with you on something sure to turn your fireplace from a drab, dreary, boring mess into a show-stopping fireplace for your home, transforming it into the focal point you always hoped it could be.
When I try to start a wood fire in my fireplace, I have some smoke coming out into the room, why is that?
This is a common question with many possible answers, so we'll try and break them down one by one on some of the most common points.
Is your damper open? There is a metal "flap", if you will, that is built into the fireplace, whether it be masonry or factory built, which will almost always have a lever or slide of some sort to open and close it. When you are burning wood, or even vented gas logs, this should be wide open, otherwise the smoke and odor has nowhere else to go but back into your room.
After making sure that your damper is open, make sure that you have heated up the flue (the metal or clay pipe which the air from the fireplace goes out of the house through), if your fireplace has a gas log lighter (a steel or cast iron metal bar that goes under the wood grate), turn this on for a few minutes before you add the wood to the fire in order to heat up the flue, so it begins to create a flow of air from the firebox to the outside of the house, it is imperative the air is moving in the right direction, instead of cold air just falling down your chimney. If you do not have a gas log lighter, you can roll up a newspaper and light it, holding the flame up inside the top of the firebox, or even in the flue itself if there is ample room--this again will warm up the air, and start it moving up and out instead of in and down.
If after ensuring the first two steps are being followed the problem persists, it could be the location of the woodgrate. Most fireplaces whether masonry or factory built will have a smoke shelf or smoke dome up inside of them. It usually takes the form of a long flat bar, or shield of sorts, which is designed to keep the smoke moving up into the flue rather than rolling out into the room. Sometimes a masonry fireplace will do this with block, stone or brick, and you will simply see a domed area at the top, which as you move toward the front drops lower and goes flat. You will want to make sure that the grate is located behind this point in the fireplace, or there is nothing to prevent the smoke from coming back out and into your home.
If you've done all this correctly and still are having issues it could be a more serious conflict between Mother Nature and your fireplace. Its possible that your fireplace is built on a west or south facing wall where the wind is especially strong and hits the chimney cap straight on. The wind then is coming in fast and strong enough that it is overpowering the natural draw created by the fire. If your house is set in an area accross from an empty field and the landscape and structures channel the winds pretty heavily against your house, it wouldn't even have to be a west or south facing wall to give you difficulty. At that point you may want to look at installing gas logs, or possibly a woodburning stove insert.
Back To The TopI hate my fireplace. I want to rip it out of there and put another one in there, can you help me with that?
Short answer is...yes. We'd want to identify what you hate about your fireplace first, its possible we can give it an overhaul and you may love it. If, for instance, you have a direct vent gas fireplace (identifiable by a fixed glass one peice panel accross the front) and you think it looks like a TV instead of a fireplace, we can install brick looking refractory in the back of it to give it brick walls instead of black, and we can put a nice, permanently mounted decorative screen in the front, concealing the glass a bit, and obscuring the workings of the unit. In many cases that is all that is required. If you had a particularly ugly woodburning fireplace with slots above and below the opening and bits of rusted brass finish, we can get a beautiful facing which serves as a door, and fully conceals the entire face of the fireplace, so it looks like you have a brand new, simply gorgeous fireplace. If a dressing up won't suffice, we can put the beast out of its misery as well. We will just need someone to go out, get measurements, and see what all is involved with getting you changed from one fireplace to another.
My fireplace is so cold, it feels like the freezer door is open when we get near it, what can I do about it?
This one can be difficult. Sometimes a fireplace has been installed with little or no insulation, if this is the case you may get a huge amount of cold air coming into the room. Sometimes, even with proper levels of insulation, you still get a tremendous amount of cold air transfer into the room. First and best advice I can give you...during the cold season, run it at least 20 to 30 minutes a day. This will serve two purposes; it will get the air flowing outward instead of inward, and it will heat the area so the insulation will then be serving the purpose of retaining the warmth, instead of preserving the cold.
If it is an open front unit, make sure there is a damper and that it is closed. If it does not have a door, add a door. If it is colder than you can bear, you may look at replacing vented boxes with vent free ones, or putting an insert in a woodburning fireplace, which helps to seal the opening and gives you more efficiency with your heating. Sometimes the boxes can be pulled out, the chase and floor sealed and insulated, and then be reinstalled. These options aren't always inexpensive, but if you have to get rid of the chill, in most cases there is some kind of a method to get it done.
Back To The TopOutdoor living products are getting very popular, is that something Godby is into now?
Godby has been a leader in the outdoor living category for years. We sell premium lines of outdoor furniture from companies such as Tropitone, Telescope Casual, Summer Classics, Seaside Casual, Outdoor Greatrooms and more. We also sell outdoor rugs, fountains, garden decor, shade structures , outdoor art, etc. We are one of the cities leading sellers of quality grills from Kitchenaid, Lynx, FireMagic, Broilmaster, Twin Eagles, Big Green Egg, Primo Grills, and even Silver Giant--the best choice for schools, churches and large company or social functions. We sell and install outdoor fireplaces, firepits, patio heaters and even outdoor kitchen islands. We believe that Life Begins When You Step Out Your Back Door.
What's all the fuss about those green egg-shaped grills?
The Big Green Egg is the best selling kamado cooker, a two thousand year old ceramic cooker concept which is one of the most efficient methods of cooking, and provides unparalleled results. The current versions use space-age technology, a similar grade of ceramics to what is used for insulating the space shuttles. This serves many purposes. The ceramic maintains heat better than any metal grill on the market is capable of. It allows you to go from off to high heat in about 15 minutes, which is remarkable since it is using natural lump charcoal--a product made from all natural hardwoods which allows you to cook hotter than conventional charcoal, and does not contain rubber or other chemicals, the way most store bought charcoal does. Because of the composition of the grill it excells at slow cooking as low as 110 degrees, performs wonderfully as a smoker, does an amazing job as an oven, and can sear a steak at 750 degrees for three minutes on each side for a perfectly done steak every time. We often cook on an Egg on Saturdays and can personally attest to how wonderful a job it does, and invite you to try it out as well. If Green isn't your color, we also carry a comperable grill in an oval shape instead of round, from Primo, which is a grill actually made entirely in the US. I've enjoyed a 40 lb pig prepared on the XL Primo and found it was cooked to perfection. The kamado cookers are in my opinion the most versatile grills on the market.
On one of my trips to your store I noticed some lovely accessories in your fireplace displays, and some others in your outdoor furniture area, are they for sale or just for display?
While we take pride in the displays, the items you saw are all for sale. Oftentimes when we sell a fireplace we sell it with the same mantle, doors, marble, and wall decor that you see in the showroom. If you want the decor items only we are happy to sell them. We also have some of our vendors listed out on our Products Carried page under Home Decor that will show literally thousands of items that are available for sale, but may not be on display in our showroom.
I want to create an outdoor room, complete with furniture, rugs, a shade structure like a pergola or pavillion, with an outdoor kitchen and fireplace. Can someone come out to the house, take a look at my area and help me figure out what I need and how much it will cost.
Yes, we are more than happy to come out and measure the area, evaluate what would need to be done, show you a host of options and bid the job for you, we only ask that you be a little flexible on the schedule so we can schedule our Installation Superviser and our Showroom Designer to meet on site with you at the same time.
How long should I expect my outdoor furniture to last?
If you bought it at Godby, you should expect it to be able to last ten, twenty, or even thirty years. We carry only top quality products which are designed to last until you get tired of them rather than until they fall apart. The brands we carry offer cushions, slings, springs, and any other replacement parts for years after a particular series is retired. As a matter of fact, both Tropitone and Telescope offer slings and cushions on all the series they have ever produced, even though some of the products have been discontinued for twenty years or more. We even have a line of 100% recycled Poly furniture similar to a Trex decking product but without any wood fiber infusion. The result is a line of furniture so durable it will in all likelihood outlive its original purchaser. Because it is all poly, it doesn't really weather and discolor. Its color is continuous all the way through so if ever scratched or chipped, it is virtually impossible to tell. They offer this product in more than a dozen colors and have Sunbrella cushions to fit every piece.
My builder told me that Godby installed my shower door and mirrors, do you really do that work?
Yes we do. We install shower doors, glass enclosures, glass partitions, custom mirrors and other specialty glass products. We also sell and install closet shelving in both wire and melamine. If you would like to convert your bath or closet into the master bath or master closet of your dreams, call us and let one of our specialists come out to do a free estimate for you. One of our most popular conversions now is when a customer has a bath where the builder put in a small shower, a half wall, and a garden tub, and the homeowner wants to turn the whole thing into a large walk in shower.
Now that I know you do showers, can you tell me the best way to clean my shower?
The shower door manufacturers are going to recommend using a squeegee after every shower to wipe down the glass. The cleaning itself should be done with liquid Comet glass cleaner, being careful not to get it on the metal. Before first use, or after doing a thorough cleaning job, Rainex makes a shower glass product which will seal the glass, and keep hard water spots, body residue or soap scum from permanently marring the glass. Since glass, while feeling smooth, is actually pourous, this product seals it and keeps things which detract from the beauty of the glass from bonding with it.
I understand you do custom mirrors as well, my mirrors are starting to blacken at the edges, is there anything I can do to salvage them?
This is one we run into all the time. Once the silver backing starts to deteriorate, you could have the mirror re-silvered, but that would cost much more than simply replacing the mirror. Our favorite answer to this question is using a product called MirrorScapes which has a total of about 20 options in frame style and color, which mount on the face of the mirror on a track system. It then has the appearance of a conventional framed mirror, but you can keep your original mirror and just apply this over the face of it. While this would be impractical if the mirrors were floor to ceiling for a workout room, where the room might be more that eight feet high, we do have bevel overlay for mirrors which work fine in this situation. Unusual application? We can provide rose, blue or black mirror as well for specialty applications for a bar or kitchen area.
I seem to remember that your products were a little more expensive than Lowes or the other box stores, why is that?
We actually install and service everything we sell. You don't have to find someone who knows a little about it to do the work for you. Our installers are the best in their field in the area and we take pride in doing it right the first time. Our fireplaces come from California, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico and Canada....you won't find a Chinese fireplace here. What that means is five years from now when you need service on your fireplace, more than likely the parts will still be under warranty, and we will come out and fix it for you. The box stores do not service any product, and seldom keep the same manufacturers for more than three consecutive years, more than likely if you buy from them, the Chinese companies they are buying from will have changed two or three times because they found a cheaper (not better) supplier in another provence. Our furniture has even stronger warranties, Tropitone for instance, who produces products in California and Florida, offers a 15 year frame warranty that even covers the powdercoated finish--which means if 13 years down the road your paint starts to flake away, you bring me a photo and a copy of your receipt and they will send you a new chair free. They even offer a free sling replacement program, come back between year three and year ten after your purchase and you can pick out new fabric for your chairs; there are usually more than a hundred options. They don't offer this because you'll need new slings then, they know their product will last easily 20 years or more and realise you may get tired of it before then. We offer a great value at a fair price, never a great price on a poor value.
